Fiber optic devices have recently been developed and utilized for various medical applications involving examination and surgical procedures. Fiber optic devices have been utilized to provide illumination for examination purposes as well necessary illumination to view and perform surgical procedures.
In eye surgery procedures, the use of fiber optical illumination devices is often necessary inasmuch as there is a lack of natural illumination inside the eye. This is especially true in surgical procedures wherein the pupil is used for viewing, since no other natural ports for entering light exist. It has been proposed to utilize fiber optical devices to illuminate the inside of the eye during eye surgery and to utilize transocular and periocular laser delivery system for the treatment of eye diseases. For Example U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,172 to Berlin discloses a laser-delivery eye-treatment device and method.
The use of laser energy to abate atherosclerotic plaque that forms an obstruction in a blood vessel has recently become a viable alternative to coronary bypass surgery. This procedure, known as angioplasty, essentially involves the insertion of a fiber optical waveguide into the vessel, and the conduction of laser energy through the waveguide so as to direct the laser energy at the plaque once the distal end of the waveguide is positioned adjacent the obstruction.
A number of patents disclose various improvements to fiber optical devices which are designed for use in conjunction with lasers including: U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,315 to Stack et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,339 to Rink et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,653 to Shturman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,556 to McCaughan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,244 to Daikuzono; U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,104 to Edelman; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,912.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,667 discloses a fiber optical device in which a lens element 13 is cemented with a suitable polyester resin or epoxy 15 to a fibre end 14 which is positioned in a ferrule 11 (FIG. 1). Although lens 13 enables focusing of light energy, the manner in which the lens is cemented makes the lens subject to becoming detached from the fibre end, if excessively heated or as a result of a failure of the bonding cement.
The present invention provides for fiber optic devices which illuminate and provide for focusing of light energy in a manner which is an improvement over the prior art.